The Newlings
by She-Wolfe
Summary: Takes place after the seventh book Angel.Max and the flock find two kids with wings that just recently escaped a School. They join the flock to help them break into a hevily guarded School called the Observatory to save Angel.
1. Chapter 1

"Skylar,report to the Hunting room! We have spotted some wild mutations",Charlie's voice booms from the speakers,waking me up.

I sit up in bed and let the grogginess of sleep wear off. When I can think clearly, I get out of bed and get dressed quickly. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and hair. I glance in the mirror and sigh.

_Today is the day. Today I have to choose which of the other male,avian hybrids to be my mate for the rest of my life. But what if the male I choose wont like_ _me?_I think.

I briefly examine my reflection in the mirror. I have wavy blonde locks, and there isn't a hair out of place. I notice my bright gray eyes, gleaming with curiosity, and then they flick over to look at the freckles arching over my nose and cheeks. I wonder if a boy will like the face of Skylar Aro. Correction, I wonder if a boy will like my face. I bite my lip in nervous thought. Who will I choose? None of the boys I must pick from are close to me-well, except for Dakota. He's been my best friend at the School since we met and we've always hung out

_Maybe-_

My train of thought is shattered by Cahrlie saying "Skylar,hurry!" through the speakers again.

I snap back into reality and start panicing. I had let myself get carried away. I run out of the bathroom and out my bedroom,sprinting full speed down the bright and busy hallway. Whitecoates go by mumbleing nonesense and scribbleing stuff down on clipboards. A couple of whitecoates agnolage me with a polite nod and i nod back.

I slow down,not wanting to run into anybody. I take a left turn and go through the doors to the Hunting room.

"Ahh. Finally,Skylar,your here. Okay,well Ruefuss just spotted four mutants on the run. They escaped from another nearby School. They're about eight miles East from here. Now go,shoo,shoo. Be on your way and catch me those mutants" Charlie orders in a joyful and excited voice.

He hands me two Net Shooters and a wistle. "Yes,sir",i say and turn to leave. "And Skylar",Charlie says. "Yes sir?"I turn back around. "Happy 15th birthday. As a little present,you may take one person with you on this hunt",he says cherrily. "Thank you,,"I say with a smile.

I hurry down the hall but this time to Dakota's room,and knock on the door. "Who is it?" he asks. "Its me,Skylar. Charlie said I can bring someone with me on this hunt. Would you like to come?"I ask.

The door flies open and dakota appears. He reminds me of a dog sometimes,with his scruffy black hair. I have to look up at him,he is at least four inches taller than me."Heck yeah,I wana come. I haven't been out of this god forsaken school in ages",he complains.

"Yay!" I say and start pulling him down the hall towards the exit door. "Woah,let me get dressed first",he says.I turn to look at him,puzzled. He only has on a pair of sport shorts. I blush,noticing his well defined abbs. I have to admit,he looks good. He'd been working out latley. Not too scrawny,not too beefy.

"You can come in and wait while I get dressed in my bathroom", he says as he picks a pair of jeans and a DC shirt out of his dresser. I step into his room and sit on his bed. "Be right back", he says and shuts the door to his restroom/closet.

I'm getting bored after a few mere seconds and look around his room. The covers and pillows on his bed are a navy blue color. His room is different from is smaller and has no windows. It makes me feel spoiled,which I am. Charlie likes me best out of all the other avian hybrids. Probably because I'm the only girl. The other seven avian/humans are boys. Im also the youngest. Dakota is the second youngest,making him a target for abuse from the older boys.

The door to the bathroom opens and Dakota walks out. "Ready?",i ask him. "Yep. Lets get a move on. I get punished enough", he says. I hand him one of the Net Shooters. He takes it and shuts his door.

We race down the hallway and practicly burst through the exit. We keep running for another thirty feet and jump in the air,spreading out our wings. They catch the wind and we dont even have to flap. I look down at the trees below us and feel sorry for them. They will never know the joy of flying.

I admire our beautiful wings. Mine are white with silver swirls on the feathers and Dakota's are black with gold swirls on the feathers. Charlie somehow found out how to control the colors and patterns of one's feathers. He said that no other School knew how to do it. And he only tested it on me,Dakota,this kid named Masen,and this other kid named Todd. When Charlie was giving us the bird genes to produce our wings,he added some sort of elixer to them to chemicaly add the colors me and Dakota wanted. We were only five years old at the time. And yes, we wern't born with wings. He took us from our homes when we were little. But that was so long ago that we dont hold a grudge anymore.

"Finally, fresh air", Dakota sighs. I nod happily. "And happy birthday. Your now only 82 days younger than me",he jokes. "I've always been 82 days younger than you", i correct. "oh yeah", he says with mock stupidily.

I suddenly spot something moving in the woods under us. (Thats right, we have raptor vision). "Dakota,look. Right over there. I see the four run-aways",i wisper,just in case one of the mutants have sensitive hearing. He nods. "On the count of three,we both shoot a net over two of them. Then when we make sure we have them,blow the wistle for Char to come and get 'em", Dakota instructs. "You know I hate it when you call Charlie, _Char_", I complain. "Thats why I do it",he says,flashing me a smile that could kill a blind person. "Got the plan?", Dakota asks. "Yep", I say. "Good. One...Two..._Three!_", Dakota says and we both tuck in our wings and dive down.

When we get in range,we slow down,startling the mutants. Perfect. I aimed my Net Shooter and pulled the trigger. _Yes! _I caught two of the mutants. I fly down and make sure the net doesn't have any rips in it. I look at the mutants. One of them has reptilian eyes,sharp teeth,and bumpy brown skin. The other has wiskers on her face,fur all over her body,cat ears poking out of her hair,and a tail. They have very shabby clothes on,and it pains me to see that the other Schools treat their mutants in such poor condition. "Sorry", I wisper to them. I look over at dakota and see that he is finished catching his two.

"Blow the wistle",he says. I obey. A minute later, a helicopter is lowering a large basket down. Me and Dakota put the four mutants in it and the helicopter takes off. Dakota starts flying away but notices I'm still on the ground. "You coming?", he asks. "Huh? oh,yeah",i say,and start flying with him back to the School. I was distracted though by having to choose which boy I was to be with forever. None of the boys know though. Charlie wants it to be a surprise. i accidently bumped into Dakota,and my wing hits his. "Are you okay?",he asks worried. "Yeah,I'm fine",i mumble. "You sure?" "Yes, Dakota!", I snap. He has a hurt look on his face and i immediatly wish i can take it back. "Dakota...I'm sorry. I just have alot to deal with...It's not your fault", I apolagize. "It's fine. I shouldn't of bugged you", he says.

We fly the rest of the way in silence.

When we get back, Charlie has all of the other avian hybrids lined up. All of them with a confused look on their face. "Get in line", Charlie tells Dakota. He does as told.

Charlie puts an arm on my back and makes me face the boys. I look down at the ground,embarrased. After a moment, Charlie says "Today is Skylar's birthday. And I have been planning this day for a long time. Today,our dear Skylar is to pick a mate. And her and that mate will stay together forever. Isn't it exciting?", Charlie says happily.

I look at Dakota and see shock on his face. I look at the others boys' faces and they acctualy look excited. "Okay now,Skylar, pick the boy you would like to stay with forever", Charlie instructs. _How did a normal day at the School turn_ _into__ this?_I wonder.

I look at Dakota again. We were best friends before we even came to the School. We came here together,we grew up here together,we even learned how to fly together. I want to choose him because I know him the best.

But I know who Charlie wants me to pick. He wants me to choose Masen. He has dark brown hair,brown eyes,and is easily seven inches taller than me. He never leaves me alone when I'm in the Cafeteria;always pestering me about _going on a fly _with him. His wings are black,like Dakota's,but they have indigo colored lightning bolts on the feathers. He made a particular game called "Picking Chicken" which involves plucking the primary feathers from Dakota's wings.

I know who I have to pick. I know how to make Charlie happy. But i also know who I want to choose. I take a deep breath and say ,"I pick...Dakota".


	2. Chapter 2

Surprise has crept onto everyone's faces. Especially Dakota's. Masen has a hurt look, making me feel worse. "Are you sure? "Charlie asks. I nod my head. "Okay then. You both may start moving your stuff into the larger bedroom. Its room 237. I want your rooms cleared by 5 p.m. They will be needed for storage ", Charlie instructed. " And the rest of you, go do your chores. Do something. Make yourselves useful" he orders the rest of the guys, and he walks off. Once everyone else is gone i gather up all the courage I have left and walk over to Dakota. "I'm sorry. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about it ",I explain. He just looks at me with a hurt expression. We stand there for a couple minutes until i cant take it any more. I put my arms around him and hug him. Tears start spilling from my eyes. ( Don't criticize me. If you were taken from your home, poked with needles for eleven years, and forced to pick a person to be with forever, you'd cry too.) Dakota hugs me back, giving me comfort. "Why are crying? ",he asks. "Because . Charlie is forcing to move into a room with me. And now all the boys will be hurting you and everything now ",I mumble. "That's okay. I can fight my own battles". We pull away from each other, feeling awkward. "We should start taking our stuff to the new room ",Dakota says. "Yeah ",I murmur. "Ill...um...see you later", Dakota says. "Bye", I whisper, knowing he heard.  
>After we are done moving our possessions into our new room, we go to the cafeteria for lunch.<br>"Mmm. Pizza for lunch", i say sarcastically. The whitecoates barley ever feed us anything other than pizza, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, and regular sandwiches for lunch. "I heard someone say that tomorrow they might serve nachos "Dakota says hopefully. "Yeah, MIGHT"!I say negatively. We get our food and sit at an empty table. "So...", Dakota says. "So what? ",I ask. "Well I'm glad your not crying ",he says jokingly. I scowl at him. "That was a one time deal. I wont cry on your shoulder like a baby again, I'll promise you that ",I say. Okay that was probably a lie.

After lunch, Charlie tells us to get our wings cleaned and groomed. So we go to Mrs. Grace, the groomer. She soaks our feathers in water and dries them with a hair blow dryer. Then she carefully places our feathers in their correct positions. "Ahh. That was nice. I have never had my wings groomed before ", Dakota sighs. "Why ever not? ",I ask incredulously. "Iv asked if I could get my wings groomed and they always tell me to do it myself ",he says. "Oh my gosh. I get my wings groomed every week. Sometimes i do it by myself ",I say," From now on, ill make sure you always get your wings groomed every week". "Thank you ",he thanks. "I noticed that your wings looked scruffy, but i just thought they were like your hair ",i say and ruffle his hair. "You couldn't tell that they were ever dirty. 'Caz they are black. I never soaked them in water though. I was afraid id mess up "he confesses. We walk to the lounge and watch TV with the other avians.

When we were about to go to bed, we asked if he could give us two twin beds because Dakota and I were very uncomfortable about sleeping in the same bed. "No. There are no beds left", he explained. "What about the ones in our old rooms? ",Dakota asked. "We sold them. The School needs the money ",Charlie says. "Oh my freaking god. Really?" I ask. He nods.  
>Me and Dakota go back to our room and decide that we will take turns sleeping on the king sized bed. The other person will sleep on the couch. Yeah, this room is so big that it actually has a couch, bathroom, and a TV. We're so lucky. "Who will sleep in the bed tonight?", I ask. "Ladies first", Dakota says in a false British accent. "Thanks", I say. And we go to sleep.<br>"Ahhh! ",I scream, and bolt awake. I'm sweating and shivering. Dakota wakes up too, probably from my scream. "What! What is it?", he said worried. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you. It was just a bad dream", I say. "Okay. Well I'm going back to sleep", he says. 'I need a walk. And a drink of water', I think to myself. I get out of bed and suddenly feel cold. I was only wearing some pajama shorts and a purple tank top. I grab a thin blanket out of a closet and start down the hall. Trust me, if you hadn't grown up here, the hallways would freak you out at night. I knew this place like the back of my hand. I walked down the halls swiftly and silently. A few minutes go by and I decide to go back to my room, but i hear a noise. No one should up at this time. Its like two in the morning. I follow to where the sound is coming from. It leads to the Consulting room. I hear Charlie's voice and two others. I creep closer so that i can hear better. "Skylar needs to be with Masen. That's the whole reason i created him. He is perfect for her", Charlie says. One of the others say "We should never of brought that misfit, Dakota. He has her all out of line. He cant even fly right". 'He cant fly right because he is missing about six primary feathers. Masen plucks him!', I wanted to yell. "But he is fast though. Both him and Skylar are fast. Faster than that Maximum Ride we are always after. We need to send Skylar out to catch her. I bet she would", this voice was female. Id heard a few of the whitecoates talking about a mutant named Maximum Ride. But I knew nothing about her. "No! You know we mustn't let Skylar know about those rebels. She would want to join them. And she is far too valuable to lose", Charlie says. "Well we all know that Skylar must be with Masen. She was the only female that survived the elixir that produced her wings, eyesight, and bird-like organs. Its too risky for her to be with Dakota. We must eliminate him. Without him, she will be forced to be with Masen", The female voice says. "Are we going to send him to another School? Or just kill him?" the other voice asks. "Just kill. He is not that important. But we need to make it look like an accident. So that Skylar will still trust us. Tomorrow i will get one of the others to kill him somehow. Maybe an explosion from one of the vials. Maybe-"I don't hear the rest. I run. All the way down all the halls back to our room. "Dakota! Dakota, wake up! We have to leave. NOW", I say, shaking his shoulder. "What? Leave? Why?", he asks. "Their going to kill you! And force me to be with Masen! Dakota we have to leave RIGHT NOW!", I almost yell. "Their going to kill me?" He says, now alert of the situation. I nod my head. "Okay. Why would they do that?", he asks, tryin to be calm. "They want me to be with Masen. And they know that the only way to do that is to kill you. Please we have to go now", I beg. "Now I'm panicking. Um...grab a bag and stuff it with your clothes and ill do the same", he says, throwing me a green backpack. I fill it up with clothes and zip it up. "C'mon. Lets go", he says, and opens the window. Sirens blare in the hall and red lights flash everywhere. "Since when do we have an alarm?" I ask." Since forever. You just never tried to sneak out", Dakota says. He jumps out the seven story window and spreads out his wings. "Hurry!", he yells above the sirens. I too jump out the window and start flapping immediately. I turn and see Charlie, Macen, and a bunch of whitecoates at the window yelling at us. Macen jumps out the window and flies toward us.  
>Oh crap.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

"Fly, Skylar! Fly!",Dakot yells. I start flapping my wings wildly,doing no good.

Masen comes up behind me and grabs one of my wings. I dive down, hopeing he will let go. He doesnt. Then he snatches me up by the waist and starts taking me back to the School. "Dakota! Dakota, he wont let me go!",i scream. Dakota comes and kicks Masen square in the jaw,causing him to drop me. I try to flap my wings but they are tangled and the feathers are squished.

As i fall closer to the ground I throw myself onto a tree,escaping the pain from falling on the ground. A dozen branches scratch my face and arms. I finaly get a grip on a firm branch and sit on it.

"Dakota?", i wisper quiety,fearing the worst.

Had Masen caught him? Or was he injured? Did he fly off without me? I hear a rustle in a tree next to me. I let a pathetic squeak of fear escape my lips. "Dakota,is that you?",i wisper again.

"Yeah. Its me. But be quiet. The jerkface is circleing overhead. He'll hear us",Dakota says as he flutters over from another branch.

He puts an arm around my shoulders. I lay my head on his shoulder. "I thought he got you!",i whine. "Naa. But your face is pretty scratched up. It'll heal in a few hours", he says.

He looks down at me and gently kisses my lips. I kiss him back. We both just sit there. 'I just kissed Dakota...',i thought to myself. I was quite shocked.

A gust of wind goes by and I shiver in the cool breeze. We're still in our pajamas. Dakota wraps his huge,black wings around us. I sigh,enjoying the warmth. After a few minutes, the sound of Masen's wingbeats disappear. We decide to walk a little. When we thought we were a reasonable distance away from the School,we started flying again.

"We need to find a place to freaking sleep",I say grumpily. We have been flying for at least three hours. My wings are starting to waver.

Dakota sighs and dives down. "Dakota? Where are you going?",i dive down after him. We both land and i just fall to the ground,exausted. We are in a grassy plain. "This is where we are sleeping?",i ask. "Yeah. Soft and not a tree. We're not animals,you know",he says. I smile."Pretty dang close to being animals though",i insist. I close my eyes for a second, breathing in the grassy aroma. I hear the grass movie and i open my eyes. Dakota is laying down next to me,using his backpack as a pillow. "That looks comfy",i say and put my backpack under my head. "Goodnight, Skylar", Dakota wispers in my ear. "Night, Dakota",i mumble,distracted by sleep.

I feel someone hit my side and moan. "Dakota,quit kicking me",i murmer,eyes still closed. And fall back asleep. I feel another sharp pain in my side. "Dakota,if you kick me one more time,im going to punch your stomach",i threaten. "Skylar...wake up",he says. But he sounds far away,and his voice sounds worried. I open my eyes and im blinded by the sun and i close them. I open them again,but slowly. Seven kids and a black dog, like the one from Wizard of Oz, are standing there. Two looking down at me and two looking down at Dakota. "Dakota...?",i say. "This is ,um, the flock. Thats Maya and Maximum Ride aka Max,the leader",he says pointing at the girls standing over me. They look absolutly the same but Maya has a red streak in her hair."This is Fang and Dylan",he points at the guys standing over him. "And thats Iggy,Nudge,Gazzy,and the dog is Total. They all have wings too", he says. "Hi",i manage to say. "Wait,did you say Maximum Ride?",i ask Dakota. He nods. "I heard the whitecoates talking about you! They all wanted me to catch you but Charlie doesnt want me to know about you",it all came spilling out of my mouth. "Wait, what? They wanted you to catch me?",she looks at the two boys standing over Dakota for answers; they shrug. "They used her as a tool to catch runaway and wild mutants. She is the fastest out of all of us. We ran away because they were going to kill me",Dakota explains.  
>He tells them the whole reason why we ran away and about the School.<br>"Okay,let me get this strait. You just ran away? How did you get out of the dog crates?", Fang asks. "Dog crates? We use those to keep the guard dogs in. Why would we ever be in one of those? We just jumped out the window to our room", i say. "They treated us differently than your School did. We got fed decent stuff,we were clean,and we were comfortable. We only now realize what they do to the messed up mutations and the mutations that Skylar catches. They do the same as they do to you",Dakota says. "Ahh. So you are like the Erasers. They were designed to catch us", Max says. Again,she looks at Maya and the two other guys next to Dakota. Dylan nods but Fang and Maya shake their heads. Max looks like she agrees with those two. Dylan panics and says,"How would you like to join the flock?" "You mean your little group here?",Dakota asks. Dylan nods. "I dont see why not",i say. Dakota shruggs and says "Sure". "So...are you two like B.F. and G.F.?"the little african girl ,Nudge, asks. "Uh...-"i start to say but Dakota cuts me off and says "Yeah". I look at him, shocked. "Darn",i heard the blind kid Iggy say. Gazzy chuckles. "Actualy, we're not. Dakota must of gotten some grass in his brain",i say. Dakota shruggs and says,"Probably"."Well we have a missing flock member...her name is Angel. A few months ago, there was an explosion in France and she got lost. We all thought she was dead. Until a week ago we found out she was being held in this heavily guarded school called The Observatory. We're hoping to bust her out. But like i said,its heavily guarded. We need all the help we can get",Max says. She doesnt seem to like the idea of 'help'. "So will you help us get Angel back?",Maya asks. I think about the possibilities. If we go with the flock,we might be caught,tortured,or killed. But if we dont go with the flock,it would mean less protection against Charlie and the School. "We'll go with you",Dakota says. I look at him again. "What if i didnt want to go with them? You have to stop answering for me",i complain. Gazzy stepped behind me and said ,"Woah! Look at those wings! Max,they have designs on them! Like swirls. Cool!" Me and Dakota laughed,but no one else was. "But how do you have designs on your feathers?",Dylan asked. "Huh? Oh, just found out a way to chemicaly add patterns and extra,artificial colors into our genes. We can also sing realy good too",i explain."Yeah,he added some strange thing into our bloodstreams when we first arrived at the school. Other mutants can sing and have patterns too",Dakota says. I ruffle my feathers and show them my wings. Dakota does the same. "Their so pretty!",Nudge complements. "Thank you",me and Dakota say. "So... We were going to get breakfast when we saw you both sleeping down here. Would you like to come?",Maya asks. Max shoots her a look. "Maya,thats my place",she says. Maya shruggs. "So would you like to come with us?",Fang asks. "Yeah. Im hungry. You comin,Dakota?",i say. "Yep",he answers. He stands up an he holds his hand out to help me up. I take it and stand up,brushing the grass off my legs. "Uhh...we're still in our pajamas..."Dakota wispers to me. I look down an blush. "Yeah,we noticed. You can change clothes when we're getting breakfast. Theres a place not far from here"Dylan says,pointing to nowhere. I squint my eyes,trying to see what he is seeing. "Theres nothing there",i say. "He can see realy,realy far. And sometimes through things!",Gazzy says. "Oh",i say ridiculously. "Come on",Max says, and takes off. I throw my backpack over my shoulder,and follow her and everyone else.

"This tastes realy good. 'Bout time we have something new in our stomachs", Dakota says. I nod my head, mouth too full to speak. "This place is the best", Iggy says. "Totaly", Nudge says. We had flow a while until we found this resteraunt. Dakota and i had finaly changed into some normal clothes. Us and the flock are sitting down at a huge table, eating. "Can i try that?", Dakota asks, pointing toward a french fry. I hand it to him and he tries it. "Mmm. The School never serves us these", he says. We barley ever ate anything as 'exotic' at the School as french fries. Tradgic, i know. "That sucks", Maya says. "Well at least they treated us nicley...",i say. Dakota looks down at me (we're sitting next to eachother) and says ," They only treated you nicley because your a good flyer, your an adorable little girl, and your the only female that can survive the process in which Charlie makes us hybrids". That stung a little in the heart. "I'm not little ",i grumble, crossing my arms. "Your little to me", he says. "Am not! Were practicly the same height ",i counter attack with words. "Nuh-uh. Remember the last checkup we had? Where Charlie weighed us, took some blood, checked our height, and other stuff. I was about four and a half inches taller than you. And that was two weeks ago ",he proves me wrong. I stick my tounge out at him. "Im done arguing", i say. "Awe dont be like that", he says,playfuly poking me. He was being so childish. Acting like we did when we were little. He keeps poking me. It was starting to tickle. "Stop", i say with a smile on my face. He pokes my side and i giggle like a lunatic. Dakota starts tickling me and i beg ",Stop. Please. Please. Dakota!", all the while laughing. Someone coughs and we stop the the tickle war immediatly, blushing scarlet. "What was that about?", Gazzy wispers to Iggy. He shruggs.  
>We finish eating our breakfast and we leave. Max decides that me and Dakota need some different clothes to hide our wings. "You need a hoodie to cover them. You cant just walk out in public with wings. Even though everyone knows we have them, some weirdos try to grab a feather or two. And you cant carry around PJ's. You'll have to get used to sleeping in normal clothes", Max says. She is quite bossy, though she is the boss. She takes us to a store called Sears and lets us each pick out one hoodie, two shirts, and two pairs of jeans. I decide to go stylish. I pick skinny jeans instead of the flared kind Max told me to get ,a purple hoodie with white stars on it, and two gray T-shirts. Nudge agrees with my choices. Dakota got a regular, brown hoodie, two pairs of jeans, and two Monster Engergy shirts. Max uses a credit card to buy the clothes. "Do you pay for the stuff you buy with that credit card? ",i ask. She laughes and says, "Of course not. Our friend Jeb pays for it all. Same with the breakfast". I nod aprovingly. Then, all of a sudden, a section of the roof collapses.<p> 


End file.
